


Camp Quinx

by mutsukiyiffer



Category: Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re
Genre: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), (I'll keep the tags updated though), Gen, M/M, Minor Injuries, Summer Camp AU, also they will probably do some pretty gay stuff but idk i haven't finished writing this yet, but he gets better don't worry, but the good kind of cheesy, canoe instructor mutsuki, cute cheesy, in which mutsuki injures himself and urie gets assigned to help him for the week, mutsuki brings out the best in everyone, mutsurie, saiko works the snackbar, sasaki is a nurse (and a good one too), shirazu and urie are lifeguards, tbh the entire au is a little cheesy, title is cheesy, urie's a salty little shit at first
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-15 09:08:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4601100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mutsukiyiffer/pseuds/mutsukiyiffer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Urie hates working at that godawful summer camp year after year.  He hates dealing with the heat, dealing with the kids, and most of all, dealing with the other camp counselors.  </p><p>On the first day he witnesses the camp's beloved canoe instructor, Mutsuki, slip, fall over a pile of canoes, and land face first in the mud.  Mutsuki is pretty sore and bruised up, and after Nurse Sasaki declares him unfit to be working alone, he assigns Urie to help him with canoes for the rest of the week.  Urie is cold and bitter about this at first, as expected, but he grows to like (love?) Mutsuki as the week progresses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is loosely based on the mutsurie AU that my friend and I came up with [posted here.](http://bikaku-prince.tumblr.com/post/126070509755/im-volunteering-at-a-summer-camp-rn-and-today-i)
> 
> (I'm not a very experienced writer, so please be gentle with me)
> 
> Please comment if you like this or have suggestions of any sort, though!

Urie didn’t know what he had been expecting. It was the first day of camp and he was supposed to be focused on getting ready for the day with Shirazu, the other lifeguard. He was supposed to be putting sunscreen on, making sure the lake was safe to swim in, sweeping leaves and branches off the dock so that kids wouldn’t trip on them... But for some reason he had decided to avert his gaze towards the shore, just in time to see Mutsuki, the camp’s small, green-haired canoe instructor, trip over a pile of metal canoes, tumble forward, and fall face-first into the mud.

As soon as he hit the ground, the chubby blue-haired girl at the snack bar, Saiko, as well as the camp’s nurse, Sasaki both ran over to his side to help him up. Urie rolled his eyes from the dock as he watched the two of them escort the green-haired man into the nurse’s station ( _how clumsy_ ). He had never been very close with Mutsuki (or with anyone, for that matter) but the rest of the camp’s staff seemed to care for the tiny canoe instructor very deeply, which really just annoyed Urie. Why even bother caring for someone like that, someone so uncoordinated and helpless? Urie didn’t get it. Plus, Mutsuki was too much for him; he was too cheery, too sweet, and too enthusiastic about his job. And while Urie didn’t necessarily _loathe_ him, he wasn’t very fond of the man either.

He was distracted from watching the scene on shore when a gruff, familiar voice called his name from the other end of the dock.

“Oi, Urie...” Shirazu was squatted next to his too-big ‘lifeguard’ duffle bag, rummaging through it as he spoke. “I must’ve forgotten my sunscreen. Think ya can go down to the nurse’s station to see if Sasaki has any?”

“..... ( _get it yourself_ )” Urie stared at him blankly, hoping that the lanky, orange-haired man would just leave him alone. He wasn’t going to give Shirazu any of his sunscreen, why would he?? But he also wasn’t thrilled with the idea of making a trek to the nurses station, especially with all the commotion going on inside of it.

Shirazu sighed and stood up, this time fully turning around to look into Urie’s dark, dull eyes. “Please? I’ll take care of everything here. I’ll do your sweepin’ for ya, even. I’m gonna burn to a crisp if I don’t put it on soon...”

Getting irritated with hearing Shirazu’s harsh, scratchy voice so early in the morning, Urie finally huffed in response and managed an unenthusiastic “... _fine_ ” before turning on his heel and making his way towards shore. He was starting to wonder why he even continued to work at this camp when the directors, Arima and Akira, the only people who didn’t drive him crazy, were never to be found. But Shirazu, Saiko, Sasaki, Mutsuki...just a bunch of headaches waiting to happen. At least the pay was decent...

Urie stomped his way through the mud towards the nurse’s station and then climbed the wooden steps, hoping that he could find some sunscreen himself and get out of there as quickly as possible. He didn’t want to talk to Sasaki, and especially not to the other two. He wasn’t in the mood to tolerate Saiko’s energy or Mutsuki’s cheerfulness. But, just his luck, as soon as he entered through the creaky screen door, Sasaki greeted him enthusiastically.

“Urie! Great seeing you today! The weather out there is beautiful!” Sasaki gave him a too-warm smile. He was sitting on a cot next to Mutsuki, carefully cleaning a particularly deep cut on the dark-skinned boy’s shaking knee. Mutsuki hissed through his teeth, squinting his eyes closed but trying his best to handle the stinging pain of the wound. “Saiko had to go back to setting up, so may I ask a favor of you?”

“I need sunscreen.” Hell, he didn’t need anyone else to ‘ask a favor’ of him. He was in the middle of a favor. And the ‘beautiful’ weather was the least of his concerns.

“Well, Mutsuki here just took quite a fall over by the canoes. He’s lucky that nothing’s broken, but he’s going to be pretty bruised up and sore for a few days. And it’s tough to manage both boats and kids, especially when you’re not feeling good...” Sasaki just continued on with his request. Obviously, Urie’s blunt response hadn’t read as a ‘no’ to him. “But my point is that Tooru is going to need some help this week. Or at least today and tomorrow. From you. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I also know for sure that Shirazu can manage lifeguarding on his own.” Sasaki patched up Mutsuki’s knee with some antibiotic ointment and a big bandage, before standing up and reaching out to squeeze at Urie’s upper arm (much to his disgust). “Shirazu’s a strong swimmer, and you’re going to be a strong paddler, alright?”

Urie stared at the energetic nurse in disbelief. Not only did Sasaki’s tone of voice peeve him, but this was a lot more than a just a simple favor. The man was literally asking him to give up his lifeguarding to paddle a bruised-up, clumsy brat around in a tiny metal boat all week. That was not his cup of tea, and he was definitely not getting paid enough to do it. But if he knew Sasaki correctly, he was going to be stuck with the job whether he liked it or not.

_Stuck with Mutsuki..._

The petite, green-haired canoe instructor gazed over at him nervously, a guilty look in his usually bright eyes. He was wearing a light blue camp t-shirt that was a bit too big for him underneath a large, cushiony lifejacket that covered his entire torso. He fidgeted with the sturdy zipper on the front of the jacket while Sasaki went to find sunscreen, looking awfully uncomfortable sitting there on the cot. He had a little scratch on his left cheek, and quite a few bigger ones on his arms and legs. Some bruises were also already starting to form, much to Urie’s surprise. It hadn’t looked like that bad of a fall, but he really had managed to bang himself up. How pathetic.

“...Um, I’m sorry about this. I-I know you don’t like to be bothered...” Mutsuki’s soft voice caught Urie off guard, since he had been wallowing in a sea of angry thoughts. “I could probably make do by myself, but you would definitely be a huge help and I would appreciate it a lot. And, uh, I definitely don’t mind sharing my sunscreen either.”

Urie had to stop himself from sighing out loud.  The first day had barely started, and he was already wishing that the entire week was over.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (yo, urie, lose the salt already)
> 
> (this chapter is longer and slightly better, I swear)

So that’s how Urie found himself down by the old, beaten-up canoe shed, handing out life jackets and canoe paddles to the day’s first group of rowdy, screaming children.He found himself wondering _just_ how far his patience could stretch before he went off on someone (preferably not a kid).The mud around the shed had to be the consistency of cement, his shoes sunk deeper down into it every time he moved, and it made the entire situation significantly more unpleasant.He didn’t know how Mutsuki had managed to slip in the gunk the first place…

Mutsuki, deciding to avoid the mud this time, stood near the canoe loading area, adjusting lifejackets to fit snugly on the smaller kids and gathering everyone with gear into an organized little group.The tiny canoe instructor had managed to stop all the screaming without even having to raise his voice by the time Urie was done, much to the purple-haired man’s surprise.Pulling a lifejacket over his body, he trudged his way back out of the shed and through the mud, watching as Mutsuki enthusiastically went over paddling and the partsof the boat, keeping the kids completely engaged in what he was saying.  

_ Mutsuki was a clumsy fuck, but Urie did have to admit that he was good at his job._

“Alright, can anyone tell me what to not do when you get in a canoe?”As Mutsuki asked his little audience the question, a few excited hands shot into the air almost instantly.“Uh….how about you, in the back!”He pointed to one of the tallest boys in the group.

“Y-you never stand up in the boat, or try to tip it over!”

Urie fought the urge to roll his eyes at the kid’s simple response.That was common sense.The entire thing was so straightforward: get in the boat, paddle, get out.How hard could it be?

“Correct!How about you?”Mutsuki, who was genuinely smiling now, pointed to another kid, this time a little girl with fiery red hair and freckled cheeks.“What else don’t we do when we get in a canoe?”

“We, uh, we don’t have a paddle fight…?”

“Ah, yes, thank you for bringing that up!”The green-haired man sighed a little too dramatically.“If any of you hit someone with a canoe paddle on purpose, both Urie and I will be _very_ upset with you, and you’ll be in a boat with us for the rest of the week.”Mutsuki cupped a hand around his mouth, like he was telling a secret, before whispering “…and we all know how much of a _grump_ Urie can be…”

All of the kids burst into a round of laughter, turning around to look at Urie.The hot-headed man just stared back blankly, doing his best to hold back the nasty retort on the tip of his tongue.Who did Mutsuki think he was?? 

“I’m just joking, but you _will_ be stuck with us if you misbehave this week.”Urie crossed his arms as Mutsuki spoke, remaining silent but digging his short nails into his skin in frustration as he stood behind the group.He hated this.He hated everything about it.Mutsuki was not in a place to “joke” with him, especially not in front of a bunch of impressionable children. _Especially_ when he was expecting Urie to paddle him around the lake in a slow, heavy boat for the rest of the week.He realized that Mutsuki had just been playing with the kids, trying to make them laugh, but it still pissed him off.

“Urie’s going to be helping out, instead of lifeguarding like usual!So be nice to him and treat him like you treat me, alright?He’s a good guy.”Mutsuki looked over at Urie, an apologetic look in his dark green eyes.“Now, it’s time to go out!”

He divided the kids into pairs on the shore, making sure everyone had a buddy before pushing a canoe into the shallow water at the loading area.He stepped down into the cool water, flinching as he put a bit too much pressure on his sore ankle.Something in the back of Urie’s mind screamed ‘help him’ but he ignored it, figuring that the green-haired man could do something as simple as this by himself.Mutsuki toughed out the pain, straddling one end of the canoe to hold it in place.“Okay, who’s first?”

The kids loaded into their canoes one by one, and soon enough they were all on the lake, just a ton of shiny silver boats in the distance.Mutsuki got out of the water and back up onto dry land, brushing his hands off on the back of his shorts and looking up at Urie with those big, green eyes again.

“Sorry I kinda made fun of you.I shouldn’t have done that, I’m sorry.I just wanted to see them all laugh.I…I thought it would be fine, but then I saw the look in your eyes and—“ 

“…it’s fine… ( _quit mumbling_ )”Yeah, he was a little pissed off, but he didn’t need an apology.Not from Mutsuki.He just wanted to get out on the water so the day could be over sooner. 

“Well, it was uncalled for, even if it was silly, and I’m sorry.You’re helping me out and you don’t deserve to be treated like that.”Mutsuki grabbed his paddle before stepping back into the water and pushing the last canoe into place.“I really think you’re a good guy.”

“…( _just get in the boat already_ )”He wasn’t used to being treated so kindly and it was….weird for him?Mutsuki obviously meant well, but it was frustrating and it just pissed him off.He didn’t know how to handle it or how to respond.So he just grabbed his own paddle and sighed, getting into the water next to the tiny instructor and leaning down to hold the canoe steady for him.“You’re in front.”

“Ah, thanks…”Getting the message to stop babbling, Mutsuki slid his paddle down the middle of the canoe and then stepped in carefully, crawling his way up to the front seat.He sat down, but turned back to look at Urie.“Um, just kind of step in, but keep your balance.It’s not too hard to get in when you’re in the back.It’s easy, I promise.”Mutsuki gave him a reassuring thumbs-up and a warm smile, remaining cheery even though Urie was being cold to him.“Don’t worry about getting mud in the boat, because we’re going to hose it off later, anyway.”

“Okay.”Urie had been in a canoe a few times before, but he wasn’t exactly confident in his canoeing abilities.At least not as confident as Mutsuki seemed to be.So he wouldn’t admit it, but he actually really appreciated any advice.He wasn’t sure why Sasaki had chosen him as Mutsuki’s designated canoe paddler for the week, though, with his lack of experience…   

Thankfully, he got in successfully and sat down on the metal seat without losing his balance or causing a problem.Mutsuki whispered a small ‘yay’ from the front of the boat, which would have normally been annoying to Urie, but he was too focused on paddling them out of the loading area to notice.

Mutsuki was very quiet for the first ten minutes or so, and Urie was thankful for it.Gave him time to think.Even though not much had really happened, the day so far had been a roller coaster for him and he was struggling to process things in his mind.Getting assigned a different job that he wasn’t exactly comfortable with, having to work with a person that he barely knew, jokingly getting insulted by said person and then being sincerely apologized to…As they both paddled in silence, Urie came to the realization that he was’t truly angry about being insulted (he could barely call “grump” an insult, anyway).And Mutsuki was just trying to make the atmosphere lighter, he had meant no harm.While Urie still wasn’t thrilled to be working with him, he did feel a tinge of guilt for being such an asshole when Mutsuki had been showing him such kindness.  

It was so strange.None of the other counselors did that with him.They just let him be, most of the time, they never expected anything out of him other than a blunt response to a question or a nod of his head.It was considered normal for Urie to be an asshole, really.For Mutsuki to joke with him?Call him a “good guy”?Give him reassurance?It was like Mutsuki saw something in him, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what that was. 

At last they made it to the middle of the lake.Although the sun was bright and the water wasn’t the clearest or most beautiful thing, Urie had to admit that he was feeling much calmer being away from shore, even though he was the one providing most of the boat’s paddling power.He was actually…enjoying himself for once.Mutsuki lifted his paddle out of the water, resting it in front of him and turning to look back at Urie.“You can stop paddling now, if you want.We’re in a good position and I can watch everyone from here.”  

Urie withdrew his paddle from the lake and rested it in front of him like Mutsuki was doing.As the boat drifted across the water, a gentle breeze blew against his face, tousling his violet hair.He inhaled deeply, detecting the faint scent of Mutsuki’s tropical sunscreen and sweat mixed together, a smell that he decided was not at all unpleasant.He watched as the green-haired man in front of him leaned to his left to dip his fingertips into the lake, creating little whirlpool patterns in the water as the canoe continued to move. 

Returning to an upright position, Mutsuki sighed happily, tilting his head up towards the sky and closing his eyes for a few seconds.“It’s so good to finally be out here.I look forward to this all year.”   

“…I wish I could say the same…”Urie responded without thinking.It wasn’t exactly true, he didn’t particularly care if he could say the same.But he definitely didn’t look forward to lifeguarding every year, it was more of a chore than something he enjoyed.

“You don’t like this?”Mutsuki turned around halfway in his seat again, giving Urie a very shocked and concerned look.“Uh…I can probably get Saiko to help me, if you’d rather be back with Shirazu.Although I don’t think she’s ever even touched a canoe, let alone paddled one…” 

Urie realized how horribly worded his comment had been.No wonder everyone saw him as a dick.“No!N-not this…I mean, I like this!This is actually nice, being out here.I…don’t mind paddling you around.”Had he really said that?Two hours ago he had been reluctant to even talk to Mutsuki, and now he was essentially telling the man that he liked being with him.God fucking damn it, he was not good with his words.

“I don’t like lifeguarding much.I don’t look forward to it.It’s just something I do because I need the money.”Simple words.Simple sentences.To the point.Much better, Urie thought.

Mutsuki responded by laughing nervously, relieved.“Oh!I thought you hated being out here, for a second.I mean, with the way you reacted to being assigned this job, I was kind of expecting you to hate it…”Something in his voice sounded sad to Urie, and his heart dropped as he realized that Mutsuki had completely noticed his poor attitude earlier that morning.“But I promise that you’ll enjoy this week!Being out here is so much better than being back there!”Mutsuki pointed towards the shore, that warm, genuine smile on his face again.

“…You’re probably right (definitely right)”No wonder everyone liked this guy so much.Somehow, the more he talked, the less annoying Urie found him to be.He was just genuinely kind, for some reason.And that smile was contagious.Even Urie, possibly the coldest soul in the world, couldn’t help but smile a little, just from being around him.

Urie wasn’t sure if it was just because of how relaxed canoeing made him, or if it was because he was enjoying Mutsuki’s company, but the rest of the week was starting to look a little brighter for him.

 


End file.
